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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26629753">Open Your Eyes</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/monsterhugger/pseuds/monsterhugger'>monsterhugger</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Magnus Archives (Podcast)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe-Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Eye Removal, Established JonMartin but it isn’t the focus, Gen, Jonah Magnus is dead</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 07:27:24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,996</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26629753</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/monsterhugger/pseuds/monsterhugger</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Jon and Martin have removed Jonah Magnus’s eyes from the body of Elias Bouchard.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>73</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Open Your Eyes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Elias awoke in a dark room. He was laying in a bed, but it didn’t feel like his bed, and when he reached out to turn on the lamp on his bedside table his hand found nothing. He felt dizzy and disoriented, not well-rested but certain he’d slept far too long. A hangover, he figured, especially likely given the throbbing pain behind his eyes. He didn’t remember going home with someone else the previous night, but it would explain the unfamiliar bed. That must’ve been it-he’d gotten massively drunk and gone home with some stranger. It wouldn’t be the first time.</p>
<p>He slowly sat up, his joints crying out in protest as he did so. That was odd-he was never this sore when he woke up, even after a more intense night like this one. Elias racked his brain trying to remember what on Earth he’d gotten up to, but his mind was blank. Though the more he thought about it, and the longer his body ached, the more he figured that might be for the best. He groped uselessly around him, trying to find a lamp, blinking over and over in the hopes that some light would start coming in. Not only did he find nothing, his vision remained completely black. This was the darkest room he’d ever been in.</p>
<p>Elias fell back against the pillow. At the very least it eased the pressure on his joints, though he knew he’d have to get out of bed at some point. He wasn’t looking forward to going into work, especially given how sore and hungover he was, but he didn’t want to risk the rest of the Institute staff becoming even more fed up with him than they already were. Besides, whoever’s bed he was in probably didn’t want to keep him another night either.</p>
<p>After another few minutes of lying in bed, Elias heard the bedroom door open, followed by footsteps. He was surprised that the room remained dark after the door was opened, and even more surprised to hear a second set of footsteps following behind the first.</p>
<p>“Jesus,” he said half to himself. “Must’ve been a hell of a night.”</p>
<p>“Er-what?” The voice was somewhat high, but if Elias has to guess he would’ve said it belonged to a man.</p>
<p>“Last night,” Elias repeated, starting to sweat. “I can’t seem to remember it, but given how I’m feeling right now I’m sure something interesting happened.”</p>
<p>“‘Interesting’ sure is a word for it.” A second voice, deeper than the first, and with a hoarseness to it that made Elias think this second man must’ve been similarly exhausted to him.</p>
<p>“Can you turn on a light, actually?” Elias asked. “It’s very dark in here, and I can’t seem to find one.”</p>
<p>“Oh,” the deeper-voiced man said. A heavy silence followed it, and Elias felt a sudden sinking dread in his stomach.</p>
<p>“Oh?” Elias asked softly.</p>
<p>“The light’s on,” the deeper-voiced man whispered.</p>
<p>It was only then that Elias reached up to rub his eyes, only to find cloth covering them. At first he assumed it was a blindfold, but upon trying to pull the cloth down he realized it was bandages. Even in his current state, Elias wasn’t stupid enough to assume this was simply an improvised blindfold.</p>
<p>“What’s wrong with my eyes?”</p>
<p>“That is quite a question, isn’t it,” the deeper-voiced man said, suddenly much more calm. “Short answer? You haven’t got any.”</p>
<p>Elias’s jaw dropped. He sat in stunned silence for what felt like several minutes, completely unsure of what to say. He felt like he should be screaming, panicking, demanding to know who these men were and what they’d done to him. But he simply sat there in silent disbelief.</p>
<p>“So I’m… I’m in a hospital. Something happened to me, and now I’m in a hospital, and you’re… you’re doctors. You’re going to fix it.”</p>
<p>“No, wrong again. Do you really not remember anything?”</p>
<p>“No. I… I must’ve gone to sleep, but I don’t remember going to sleep. I don’t remember any of what happened last night. Or… was it even last night? How long have I been out?”</p>
<p>One of the men sighed loudly.</p>
<p>“Elias please, just try to remember.” The first man was speaking again, and Elias felt someone take his hand. “What’s the last thing you remember?”</p>
<p>“I don’t know,” Elias was starting to get choked up. He was surprised he’d managed this long without crying, really. “Please, just-just tell me what happened to me. Where am I? Who are you? What… what happened to my eyes?”</p>
<p>“You’re in a cabin in Scotland,” the second man said. “Don’t panic, you’re here because it’s the safest place for all three of us to be right now.”</p>
<p>“W-what? Why?”</p>
<p>“It’s… hard to explain. There are things out there, things that want me dead, things that won’t hesitate to tear through you if it means getting to me.”</p>
<p>“Sounds like I’d be safer away from you, then.”</p>
<p>“That’s the thing. I know how to keep you safe from them. I’m the only one who can really <i>know</i> that. But if you’d like, you can leave. Stumble out the door with no eyes and see how far you get.”</p>
<p>Elias dropped his head into his hands. He rubbed the fabric over the space where his eyes used to be. It didn’t hurt like he expected, but the emptiness behind the cloth still felt horrid. The fabric had an awful give to it as his fingers sunk partially into his eye sockets.</p>
<p>“Was it one of those things?” he asked. “That… that took my eyes?”</p>
<p>There was a moment of silence before the deep-voiced man replied.</p>
<p>“Yes,” he said softly. “Yes, he was.”</p>
<p>“He?”</p>
<p>“Jonah Magnus.” He spat as he said the name, as if he couldn’t stand the taste of it. “But at least he’s gone now. One less monster to worry about.”</p>
<p>“The founder of the Magnus Institute. Who died over a hundred years ago. He did this to me?”</p>
<p>“Enough with the twenty questions, alright?” The man’s tone was firmer now, and Elias swore he felt a headache coming on. “I’m not going to beat around the bush anymore. I know what I’m about to tell you is going to hurt, but you deserve to know what happened to you.”</p>
<p>Elias lifted his head, turning vaguely towards the speaking man. He may have been making eye contact if he still had his eyes.</p>
<p>“Jonah Magnus was a monster. Not just a bad man, though he certainly was one of those-an honest-to-god, barely human type of monster. He’s been popping out people’s eyes and shoving his own in their place since the nineteenth century, and… well, you were his most recent costume.”</p>
<p>“That… that doesn’t make any sense.”</p>
<p>“It really shouldn’t,” the man sighed. “But it’s true.”</p>
<p>And Elias believed him. He didn’t know why-what this man was saying was nonsense, but he absolutely had to believe it. He was more sure of this than he’d ever been of anything in his life.</p>
<p>“How long?” he asked softly. “How long was he in my head?”</p>
<p>“Years. Decades, even. You were head of the institute for almost twenty-five years, and well… I don’t think you remember working as anything more than a filing clerk, do you?”</p>
<p>“N-no. I… god, that’s why my joints are so sore, isn’t it? I’m a bloody old man now, aren’t I? A blind, decrepit, miserable old-”</p>
<p>“Elias, please,” The higher-voiced man spoke now, and the grip on Elias’s hand tightened. “You’re going to be okay, alright? Jonah Magnus is dead. He’s dead, and his eyes are burned to ash and buried six feet underground. You’re safe now. You’re you.”</p>
<p>“I… so what?” Elias gripped the other man’s hand in return, trying to glean some small comfort out of it. “Doesn’t give me my eyes back. Doesn’t give me twenty-five years of my life back.”</p>
<p>“But you’re alive,” the man argued. “You’re alive, and you’re not a flesh suit for a horrible monster. That’s got to count for something.”</p>
<p>“Maybe,” Elias muttered. “Or maybe I’d rather be a flesh suit and completely unaware of it than an old eyeless husk in some stranger’s cabin in Scotland! Did you think of that when you tore his eyes out of my head and did whatever it was you did to them? Did you not think maybe I didn’t want to live like this?”</p>
<p>“I don’t know,” the deep-voiced man sighed. “I thought maybe you were awake in there, that you knew he was controlling your body and you’d want him out. But I guess not.”</p>
<p>Another moment of silence passed. Elias could hear himself breathing, could hear himself starting to cry, and tried to stifle it.</p>
<p>“Can I get you anything?” the high-voiced man asked. “Something to eat, something to drink, I can try and find something for you to take if your joints are really bothering you-”</p>
<p>“I don’t need you to take care of me,” Elias snapped. “Far as I’m concerned you’ve kidnapped me.”</p>
<p>“Kidnapping’s a strong word, considering we just saved your life,” the other man said gruffly.</p>
<p>“Fine. We’ll leave you alone, then.” The first man let go of his hand, and Elias heard two quiet sets of footsteps as the two men began walking out of the room.</p>
<p>“Wait,” Elias said, holding out a hand. “You’ve never told me who you are.”</p>
<p>“Oh. Er-Martin Blackwood,” the first man said.</p>
<p>“Jonathan Sims,” grumbled the second. “The Archivist. You’re welcome to call me Jon, though.”</p>
<p>Elias nodded. He felt like he should recognize the men’s names, but he didn’t.</p>
<p>“Seriously, just yell if you need anything,” Martin said. “Even if you don’t think you need the help, you’re probably going to need it, given… you know.” He was right, Elias had to admit-there was no way he was going to be able to find his way around the unfamiliar dwelling without being able to see.</p>
<p>“You can take the bandages off, by the way,” Jon added. “The sockets aren’t bleeding or anything. Don’t stick your finger in there, but if the bandages are uncomfortable you don’t need them.”</p>
<p>“How bad is it under there?” Elias asked. “Like… what does it look like?”</p>
<p>“Looks like empty eye sockets,” Jon replied. “Again, they’re not full of blood and gore or anything. Though if you are still squeamish about that, it’s not like you’ll have to see it.”</p>
<p>Elias nodded and began slowly unwrapping the bandages from his head. When the bandages were gone, he set them aside and reached a hand up to prod at the hole where his eye once was. The skin around it felt smooth, undamaged, as if there was no violence in the removal of his eyes and they had come out quite easily. The socket was also damp with what was presumably tears-a lot of tears, in fact. Maybe it shouldn’t have surprised Elias that he could still cry, but it did, and as he continued to prod the empty socket he felt the tears beginning to pour down his cheeks.</p>
<p>“What did I just say about sticking your fingers in there?”</p>
<p>Elias lifted his head. He’d figured Jon and Martin had left, honestly, he’d been so engrossed in assessing the damage to his face. Jon was probably right, he figured. He pulled his hand away from his face, still blinking tears away from the empty sockets.</p>
<p>Despite Elias’s protests, Martin brought him breakfast a while later. He set the plate in Elias’s lap, and Elias reached out to find two pieces of toast.</p>
<p>“Sorry if it’s not your favourite,” Martin said as Elias took a bite. “You didn’t really give me much, and I figured toast would be the easiest thing to handle without... eyes.”</p>
<p>“It’s certainly not difficult,” Elias said through a mouthful of food.</p>
<p>“Is there anyone you’d like me to call for you?” Martin asked. “Someone who’d want to know where you are? Maybe someone you’d rather be with than me and Jon?”</p>
<p>“I… I don’t know. I mean, I have friends-had them, at least, but it’s been years, hasn't it? How do I know they still have the same telephone number? Or even… if they still remember me? Or if they’re still alive? I don’t think there’d be much point.”</p>
<p>“I wish I could take you home,” Martin said. “I mean, you’re right, we’re sort of holding you prisoner, but it just sort of worked out that way. Jon can’t leave, and I can’t leave Jon alone, and you…”</p>
<p>“Can’t see and don’t know where I am. Or even where I live now.”</p>
<p>“Exactly.”</p>
<p>“So why can’t you leave Jon alone, exactly? I know he said there were monsters out to get him, but surely you’d be safer away from him if he’s being hunted?”</p>
<p>“I don’t really know, honestly. I just… feel like he shouldn’t be in this alone.”</p>
<p>“You care about him enough to risk being attacked by monsters.”</p>
<p>“Yes, I suppose I do.”</p>
<p>“That’s… that’s idiotic.”</p>
<p>“Maybe.”</p>
<p>They were both silent after that until Elias finished his meal. Martin took the plate off his lap and began walking towards the door, but Elias once again thought of something at the last second.</p>
<p>“You’re sure you can’t take me home?”</p>
<p>“I’m very sure,” Martin said firmly.</p>
<p>“You… you seem like a good person, Martin. You care enough about Jon to risk your life for him, you already saved me, or at least you thought you did. Do you really want to keep me trapped here?”</p>
<p>Martin sighed.</p>
<p>“You’re right. I <i>do</i> care enough about Jon to risk my life for him. And whether you think that makes me stupid, or a good person, I don’t care. Because I <i>love</i> him, alright? And until very recently, something with your face was doing very bad things to him. So forgive me if I’m not eager to leave him for you.”</p>
<p>Elias was silent. It wasn’t like he could argue. He stayed silent until he heard Martin leave the room. He felt bad for asking, of course-he felt bad for asking this seemingly kind man to leave the person he loved for him. But he also desperately wanted to go home. Wherever home was, he wanted to be there, out of this cabin and out of Scotland and away from Jon and his monstrous pursuers.</p>
<p>That night, Elias had a dream. He was somewhat surprised when he opened his eyes in this dream and saw, though it was comforting to not be in darkness for that brief time. In this dream, he was in a bed-not his, he assumed it was the bed he currently slept in but he had no proof of that. He didn’t move, only watching the door until he heard it click open.</p>
<p>The thing that entered was not human. It was vaguely shaped like a person, but there were no distinguishable features-a distorted shadow of a man projected in the doorway. As Elias watched the shape in horror, its eyes began to open-the two eyes in its face where eyes should be, and then more eyes everywhere all over its shadowy form. Elias clutched the blankets close to his body as the thing approached, but he knew there was nothing he could do to resist this monster.</p>
<p>“Elias,” it said in Jon’s voice.</p>
<p>“G-get away from me,” Elias stammered.</p>
<p>“Elias, I’m not going to hurt you. You’re okay.”</p>
<p>“What are you?”</p>
<p>“I told you. I’m Jonathan Sims. The Archivist.”</p>
<p>“No. You’re not. You’re a monster.”</p>
<p>“Maybe I am. But I’m not going to hurt you. And I <i>am</i> Jonathan Sims. I just saved you from the very man who did this to me. You could at least show a little gratitude.”</p>
<p>“Jonah Magnus did this to you?”</p>
<p>“He did. He made me into this… thing. The Archivist.”</p>
<p>“Did he… did he do that to me?”</p>
<p>“No. You’re still human. Look.”</p>
<p>The creature gestured to its right, and Elias turned to see a wardrobe with a mirror. He looked at his reflection. His hair had changed, it was shorter and graying, and his face was old and wrinkled. And of course, his eyes were gone, dark empty sockets in their place. He looked awful, and he had to look away from the mirror as the image was making him sick. But he was human.</p>
<p>“I want to go home,” Elias said tearfully, looking into the eyes on the creature’s face.</p>
<p>“You can’t,” the creature replied, shaking its head. “You have nothing to go back to.”</p>
<p>“Please.”</p>
<p>“Please what? I’ve done everything I can. I’ve given you your body back. But I can’t give you your life back. If I could undo everything Jonah did… well, I wouldn’t look like this, would I?”</p>
<p>Elias fell back into bed, squeezing his eyes shut as he began to cry once again.</p>
<p>He awoke to a hand on his shoulder, and when he blinked open his eyes he was met with darkness.</p>
<p>“Elias.” It was Jon again, and Elias flinched away from the hand on his shoulder. The monster from his dream flashed in his mind. It was just a dream, he told himself it was, but it felt too real.</p>
<p>“Are you human?” he asked meekly.</p>
<p>Jon sighed.</p>
<p>“No. Not anymore.”</p>
<p>“Jonah…”</p>
<p>“He took a lot from us both, didn’t he?”</p>
<p>“Thank you,” Elias said after a moment. “For killing him.”</p>
<p>“Thought you said you wished we hadn’t.”</p>
<p>“No, I-I think he deserved it. For what he did to us.”</p>
<p>“Ah. I can agree with you there.”</p>
<p>Jon rested his hand more firmly on Elias’s shoulder, and this time Elias didn’t flinch away. Jonah had taken so much from him, and he’d never get it back, but at least he was still human. At least he wasn’t a monster like the thing next to him. And at least he didn’t have to see the mess Jonah had made of him.</p>
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